Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Rep. Ron Barber , one of the last remaining lawmakers whose reelection fate has yet to be decided , has filed suit in federal court asking for 133 disqualified ballots to be counted as his contest with Republican Martha McSally heads to a recount .

`` We are talking about 133 Southern Arizona voters who lived up to their responsibility â $ '' they registered to vote and then showed up to vote , '' Barber attorney Kevin Hamilton said in a statement out Monday . `` We are asking the court to ensure that every lawful vote is counted . That 's what America is all about . ''

Barber is trailing McSally , a retired Air Force colonel , by just 161 votes , a margin slim enough to trigger a recount when the votes are certified by the secretary of State , which is expected Dec. 1 .

But his campaign has been working feverishly over the past few weeks to find and gather evidence of ballots they say were illegitimately thrown out .

They submitted with the lawsuit sworn affidavits from the voters in question outlining the issues they faced trying to cast their ballots . The reasons their votes were discarded range from signatures not lining up with their registrations to election officials failing to direct voters to their proper polling places .

Barber 's campaign tried unsuccessfully last week to delay the canvass of votes in the two counties that make up the district , Pima and Cochise , hoping to buy time to continue to root out other votes that may have been wrongfully discarded .

But with the campaign 's requests denied , Barber 's options for ensuring those 133 ballots are included in the final count have narrowed .

His lawsuit is seeking a restraining order to prevent the secretary of State from certifying the election results until the ballots in question have been counted .

Barber holds the seat once held by his former boss Democrat Gabrielle Giffords .

McSally , meanwhile , is continuing with business as though representative-elect . She spent last week in Washington D.C. at freshman orientation with other newly elected lawmakers from across the nation .

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Rep. Ron Barber 's reelection bid is one of the few uncalled remaining House races

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He 's down by 161 votes to GOP opponent Martha McSally

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That margin will trigger a recount when the vote is certified next month